Foster & Partner’s Quartermile Development in Edinburgh is a prime example of a modern redevelopment project, with aspirations to elevate and repopulate an underused area of the city centre. Yet it also reflects a worrying trend in modern architectural design; the conflict between visual representations of architectural ideas and the built reality. Why do architects choose to lie to themselves?

In the wake of tragic vehicle-borne attacks in Nice and London, cities across the world are rushing to implement measures to protect their citizens. But these barriers risk turning historic cities into fear-inducing battlegrounds – is there a better way for architecture to protect us against terrorism?